Because of Ramadan, the Kandahar Bazaar has been closed. I heard about it yesterday and was told that you could save up to 75% off AAFES prices for the exact same items at the bazaar. I guess it comes every Saturday for a few hours.
I took out some money and set a budget of about $60 to get items for my kids and stuff. I had heard from a friend that if you haggle you can save a lot of money. Many of these guys love haggling and one sale sets them up for a LONG time. For example, one of those nice metal thingies you see in the photo above may cost $200 at the Boardwalk. However, at the Bazaar, I heard people getting one for $80.
Now, I’m not a professional haggler, but I do have Jedi mindtricks that I’m good at. It comes with my military training. The key to a good haggle to present the perception of poverty. I went to the PX and had a $100 bill broken down into $5, $10, and $20 bills. I placed various amounts of money (not to exceed $25) in different pockets. When I found something I wanted I would put a price on it in my head. Because Afghanis think that we’re all rich and are stupid enough to pay through the teeth for anything made in a 3rd world country, they start high.
My tactic is to immediately thank the vendor and apologize for not having enough money. Inevitably, they will ask how much money I have. The key is not to divulge that right away in most cases. However, if you think revealing that you only have $21 to your name and the asking price was $65 will help, by all means do it. A good example of this is a nice lapis lazuli rock that I really wanted for my oldest daughter, Anissa.
Lapis are semi-precious stones that have been prized for their deep blue coloring for over 6,000 years. They are beautiful stones that are impressive to both look at and hold. I saw one that particularly interested (above) because it sort of looked like a Killer Bunny. When he told me that the rock would cost $65, I decided that I would pay $35 for it later, but didn’t want to spend more that what I had in any one pocket. I thanked him and told him I’d be back. I’d haggle him down to $35 next time (hoping the same rock was still there).
Afghans earn on average about $426 per year. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that he didn’t want me to leave knowing that I was interested in this stone. I told him I would be back when I had more money.
“How much you have, sir?”
“I don’t have much today, but I’ll have more next time,” I replied.
“How mucho have? I sell to you for $40,” came the plea.
“That’s a very good offer, but I don’t have that much. If you wait until next week, I will buy your stone.”
This went back and forth and I continued apologizing to him. I told him that I didn’t have enough and when he kept asking me to make him an offer for what I had I told him I didn’t want to insult him. I really wanted that stone and he really wanted my money. He went down to $30, then down to $22, telling me that if he sold it for $22 he’d only get $2 profit. I had a pocket with $16 in it, two pockets with $25, a pocket with $20, and a pocket with $21. I had nine $1 bills in my wallet for smaller items I may have wanted.
After pulling out my $21, I profusely apologized and told him that it would be an insult to offer him all the money I had which was only $21.
“Who you buy lapis for, sir?”
“It’s for my daughter.”
“Because it’s for your daughter, sir, $21 is ok.”
And that’s how it works. He made on that one sell a day’s profit. And I got a very nice semi-precious stone for $21.
The bazaar hosted a wide variety of items from bootleg DVDs to perfectly chiseled sculptured stones to well-crafted wooden items. There was all kinds of jewelry available and those that knew what to look for were even provided with jeweler’s optic magnifier. I saw many troops examining stones at the end of tweezers and through a monicle type thing. There were etched metal products too. I was in awe of the detail these have. Looking at them closely exposes the reality of the handmade quality of these items.
While there, I got two more items for my kids so I could send them to Emily for Christmas presents at the same time. There were many other things I was interested in that I want as souvenirs, but they were outside my total budget for the day. There will be many opportunities to haggle some more. In total, I saved over $96 off what was quoted for prices. I heard a lot of Soldiers just forking over money at the first opportunity, but I’m a cheap son of a gun. When I wasn’t buying stuff, I was listening to others haggle to get a feel for what vendors were willing to accept when I came next time. Instead of “I only have X amount of dollars” I can begin with “but last week (month) you sold this to my buddy for $X.”
In the meantime, I need to replenish my reserves and refocus my Jedi mind tricks.
